Stick with me on this principle because it is deeper and higher than you would first think. I will do my best to explain what I captured.

One would expect to hear that freedom is created when getting yourself out of debt. There is no doubt that debt in your life becomes an anchor that controls your every move. If your debt is not affecting you and your decisions, it is only because you decided to become callus.

Let me explain. After graduating college (undergrad and grad school) and getting married in 1999, I had amassed $142,000 in student loans! Crazy, I know. I began to talk with everyone I knew about getting out of debt and the answer in return was “just get use to it”, “that is the way it is”, “you just move from debt to debt, so welcome to the real world”. I heard this so much that I stopped thinking about getting out of debt and just learned how to “get by”. I would pay the payment each month and that was it. I even added a mortgage and car loan on top of the student loans. Living day to day became my M.O. Never allowing myself to look at the big picture (because the big picture or big debt was overwhelming). This was truly hardening of my heart and mind to the possibility of freedom — I was becoming callus to it all. Now, if you are at this point in your life, I understand. You need to let a program like the Financial Fitness Program into your life. You need to learn the basics and application of the Offense, Defense, and Playing Field of finances. It will have generational impact as it has with me. Worst case scenario, you can be financially secure.

But what I learned from Orrin this summer, was on the far other side of financial freedom. I watched a man who’s income is very public with the Income Disclosure Sheet of the Life Company, begin to answer, ” what legacies can I help and create to serve my fellow man?” He and his beautiful wife, Laurie, decided that their current properties and lifestyle had fulfilled many of their dreams, and now it is time to help this world be better. What would it be like to say that you have been so blessed in so many ways that it is now your turn to bless. That God gave us time and finances to serve so let’s spend them in a worthy cause. I know we all have a soft spot for some cause, big or small. How would you dent this world if you could.

I watched them dig deep into ONELife for Life. A mission that is out of Flint, Michigan and lead by Pastor Eric Stewart. Its focus is to help bring babies to full term. The mission had determined that a large number of babies lives were being terminated due to financial strain of the mother or father. Isn’t that crazy! Our finances can control life and death! It makes my heart hurt just thinking about it. Pastor Stewart and his church, ONELife, started filling the need for caring and finances for the mothers and the babies. Orrin raised his hand and said that he is all in by becoming a main benefactor to the mission. He also speaks out of the work that ONELife for Life does and uses his influence to attract more help. What would it be like to be able to use your time, money, and influence for a cause the you personally find dear to your heart?

I watched Orrin assist a friend that was going through a very difficult moment in his life. Orrin choose to be the “good Samaritan ” both spiritually and financially. The situation required nothing of Orrin except loss, but he choose to help take on the burden. Orrin did not weigh the loss verse gain financially. He only knew that his friend might break completely in the moment, so how could he just sit by and watch. Wow! What would you do if you could serve even when it wasn’t warranted or deserved? What could be your impact?

The principles of “service over money” and “impact over bottom line” became so evident to me this summer. I watched with my own eyes as these principles came into fruition. Orrin was able to completely put the financial question “how much can I spend” out of the equation. He was in for the impact on those God had placed before him. I observed him display what Paul says in Philippians “learned to be content “. Orrin was content to give freely and completely. He needed no other reason than “this is what we are called to do”.

We all so desperately need those like Orrin in our life. We need to watch their coming and going. We need to see their actions. See the good that they are doing and realize it is not for show. Their deeds make us stronger and create a desire in us to be better for Kingdom causes. Get yourself an Orrin because they are out there right now serving people.

You’ve got to get your Orrin! What an incredible time I have gained these past few months around a gentleman by the name of Orrin Woodward. This is a gentleman that I have known for over 17 years, but so much was gained recently that I feel like I really know him now. His accomplishments are many including: author, entrepreneur, mentor, life coach, father, husband, and friend. More details you ask: co-author of Launching a Leadership Revolution – New York Times Best-seller; Co-Founder and Chairman of the Life Company – personal and professional development App; mentored Chris Brady ( Co-Founder of the Life Company and Best Selling author) into the Top 50 Leadership and Management Gurus list); an amazing 25+yr relationship with his lovely wife, Laurie. And so much more could be said about him, but my prayer is that you gain some of the wisdom and experience I gained this summer that will be the seeds to a greater future for you and those around you.

To start, I must throw out on the table the rule of “freedom isn’t free”. You may be tuning out right about now because this phrase gets used so much to justify sacrifice. There is truth in that definition. Many have died or been in bondage for our privileges. Whether by fighting on domestic or foreign lands, by faith preached or acted out, or by strongholds erected or destroyed, our freedoms come at a price. There is not doubt that our forefathers of all races have had to endure for the future we are part of. But what I gained of this statement from Orrin was his voluntary giving of so much of his wisdom to me. Wisdom of this world and how it works comes at a high cost. Every time Orrin pointed to Scripture, pointed to a book, pointed to an experience in his past, or acted in a particular way, I realized that each deposit of wisdom was gained through much sacrifice of time and sometimes pain. And he gave it to me so freely!. I just had to be in his presence. There is an old saying that states that people spell ‘Love’, T-I-M-E. Maybe a strange concept for you “tough guys” to admit, but I realized how much this man loved me by his sacrifice. To put it more in my terms: my free dumb ( costing me nothing and my ignorance to the truth) cost Orrin significantly but he gave it at no charge. In a society focused on self, this type of attitude changed me.

I recently finished an incredible book by Gus Lee, “with Schwarzkopf — Life Lessons of The Bear“. This book carries over the thoughts, insights, and character-building that Lee received from General Schwarzkopf over the course of 47 years. The General took a failing Cadet from West Point and helped him see and strive for his greatness. I believe Orrin Woodward started this process in me this summer. I was a man staring at goals and dreams knowing that I needed “a different”. As God would have it, Orrin stepped in to be that difference for me and my family. I may not get to all the life lessons that I gained this summer but I am going to attempt to share a few that impacted me the most.

Here is a brief summary of life lessons to come:

the power of Financial Freedom

the encouragement of a Father

being truly lead by God

the critical need for Critical Conversations

the value and pain of Pride

it is okay to be Real

the value of Hungering and Thirsting for Justice

finding Joy in all things

I pray that my next few articles will inspire and encourage you to find an “Orrin” so you can do what the best selling author and my friend, Chris Brady says ” Take [you] to the horizon” of your future.

Recently I have gained a tremendous friend in Mr. Anthony Waldrop. He has an amazing history of pastoring a church for over 25 years,and being a business man, a father, and a husband. The letter below he wrote after experiencing the Life Company’s community. Enjoy!!

Intro: The Following Information is my (Anthony S. Waldrop) observation of the intricate unveiling of the LIFE Leadership as observed by me, an outsider, with no previous or prior knowledge of LIFE Leadership, or any other class or similar type of business.

Oh the Funny part is, in my mind, I can read this in three voice, Orrin’s, Chris’s, and Bill’s! I love it. LOL

MY TWELEVE REVELATIONS OF LIFE, BY ANTHONY S. WALDROP 2/2/2017

Revelation: a surprising and previously unknown fact, especially one that is made known in a dramatic way.

Revelation of INTEREST: When you come out to a Tuesday night, and are first introduced to the “Community,” right off the get-go you learn that there is real interest among the participates. It doesn’t take too long to see that there is an excellence that permeates the group. Respect, class and a genuine warmth is transferred between all the people, and visitors are treated kindly and made to feel comfortable and welcome. The fact that people take effort to dress well and treat the event as important is impossible to overlook.

Revelation of “Presents” There is a special speaker there who has respect from the attenders with a measureable level of success, they are a person with “Presents”. They are a Leader in the group, a great communicator, with a great testimony and they have respect, and they should be paid attention to.

Revelation of “Excitement”: They have big and power packed events, and they have tickets in their hand and they are convinced you should go. Excitement is ingrained in these people, (at this point you’re unsure why).

Revelation of “Current”: A body of water or air moving in a DEFINATE DIRECTION. When you get to a “Major” you walk into a “WOW” atmosphere. As the weekend moves through its speakers you experience the “Current”. The “Current” is the mixture of Interest, Presents, Excitement, and now you add the “Direction”. Direction explains the movement of the event, everything is moving in the same direction; definition, understanding, teaching, exhortation which leads into the next Revelation…

Revelation of “Purpose”: The reason something is done or created, the reason something exists. When Purpose begins to come into focus, there is a conflict of mind, people are trying to figure out if they are there simply as a consumer, or if they are there for more noble reasons. Those who don’t get this Revelation of Purpose, never get one step closer to escaping the Financial Matrix. Their stance is so defensive, and mind so cynical that they are endanger of “Paying the Devils toll ASW” for the rest of their life. This discovery of Purpose is a process, that is why the length of the event is important. It takes time to sink in, one speaker after the next, covering so many minds with so many favors of the same fruit, the Purpose starts to sink in. The PURPOSE is both DEEP and MULTI-FACETED, one facet of PURPOSE is to slay the “Giant”, to stop “Paying the Devils toll” asw (interest, overages, over draft fees etc.), Orrin actually made a reference to defeating the Financial Matrix and breaking its hold on us as a nation! I caught that, and I was like, wow, this man is a true Crusader! It is the realization that the Matrix can be made powerless in the lives of those who learn the Principles of LIFE. Another facet of the Purpose, is developing an offense that can “turn money from a Master to a Servant LLR” Then there is the Purpose of Charity, being a blessing, and the Purpose of living our Dreams. I’m sure there is more!

The Revelation of Community: You would think that is understood earlier in the process, not for me. The “Following” the Fellowship, the Team Meetings, the caravans, and shared rooms, the interaction between the people, black, white, yellow, red, brown the Mennonite, the disabled the old and the young. There is a common cause that brings these folks together! A compensated community!

The Revelation of Tutelage: Protection of or authority over someone or something; guardianship. I begin to see and understand that there is a “Guardianship” over LIFE. Orrin, Chris, and rest of the LIFE’s Leaders are literally, Watchers on the Wall over the company. There has been an investment of blood sweat and tears is LIFE. LIFE mean more to its Leaders than just a conduit of wealth, theirs a nurturing and great interest in the Purpose of LIFE. You understand that this Company is structured to Grow and set up for the benefit if the community. The Character of the LIFE Leaders are on display through their content. The identity of LIFE and its Leaders are not divisible!

The Revelation ofMentorship: When I experienced the Mentorship in LIFE, when I was drawn into the meeting in the hall in KY, and Aron Radosa put his approval on the Band of Brother and elevated us and edified us, that was a good feeling. I discovered that I was in the present of a true Leader. Then I discovered that this very important man, this respected man, he was going to lead me and train me and teach me, and stay right there to help me get on track. When I sat in a living room and Julie and I got to talk to Bill and Keisha and hear Bill teach, like six feet away, I’m blown away. The Mentorship of LIFE is spot on. Too understand that I can tell a friend, hay, sign here and you get Aron too! Wow…. just awesome. When I saw the way Mary andKeisha treated Julie, and I saw the Women I love, receiving love from Mary at our home, and that it was real. I had the Revelation that these people were way more than just LIFE Employees. They were special.

The Revelation of MY DREAM: I told Aron and Bill what had happen as John taught our last Tuesday. It was a combination of so much that I had been experiencing, but John drove it home so well. I had my Dream high-jacked, my Dreams were the victim of a “Dream Virus” right out of the Financial Matrix. I had reached my “Current” Dream status and it wasn’t good. I was living my Dream to just get by, and I was the master at it! L I really no longer believed that Julie and I could have an Amazing Home on a Private Lake and use it as a Hospitality House for struggling Marriages and Pastors in Crisis, to spend the last 20 so or years of my life sowing into people. Now I have that dream back thanks to LIFE Leadership. Except now I’ve added sharing LIFE as part of that Dream. Financial Freedom is the current path I’m on!

The Last Revelation,The Revelation Difference: that Julie and I can make a difference on a much broader scale then we have in the past. Because we have the Content, the Commerce, and the Community to do it with!

The last two I see, but I don’t yet understand well enough to put do a thought.

Here is a small tribute out on Independence Day from a mother (my Mom) about her daughter (my sister, Joanne). I am so proud of both of them. The greatest leadership position to fill and the greatest front to be on in any war is that of a mother. You maintain the family, you comfort the wounded, and you pray for freedom and liberty. Mothers are truly the most over-looked and underappreciated position in the world. Thank you mothers for always serving!! Here is an amazing tribute:

Our daughter, Joanne, is in the ARMY and is expecting her second child this month.
She is making unconventional choices for her delivery – home birth with midwife support.
An obstetrician is needed to order testing and be on standby for any complications during the delivery.
This has been a search for her because most OB’s have a check list that Joanne does not agree with.
Finally, she had to remind her obstetrician that the reason our soldiers are putting themselves in harms way is to maintain our freedom of choices.
He [now] sees the light……….

KEEP ALL WHO FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOMS IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS AS YOU CELEBRATE THIS INDEPENDENCE DAY !!!!!!!

In my life there has been moments and stories that have changed me because of the change that I have witnessed. Like every father, I cherish the moments of my children’s first steps and my children’s first return of a hug (even us “tough” guys get overwhelmed with emotion). And I could continue with the moment my wife, Mary, first appeared to walk down the aisle in our wedding, and she changed from the girlfriend/fiance to my wife and best friend.

But a lot of my moments have come through the process of working with people in a culture of change. It is incredible to watch people become totally consumed with their growth and purpose. This culture is enbodied in the LIFE Leadership business and community. It is built around the idea that the world is starving for the “the best chance to live the life you always wanted”. Through the right information in the right form from real people with real experiences, LIFE Leadership is changing lives all over the world through placing people in a growth environment. And this community is just beginning.

One such story is that of my friend, Mike Eppenbaugh. He is a great young man in Warsaw, Ind who is changing lives through his amazing example. We will hear his story from his own words:

“I would say that my life is a underdog story. One day when I was 3 y/o, I was not feeling good, but my dad asked me if I wanted to go to preschool that day before dropping me off at my babysitter. I told him that I wanna go, but when I arrived at the preschool, I passed out in the arms of the teacher. I was diagnosed with a serious life-threatening seizure and became hospitalized for two weeks fighting for my life. Thanks for the good Lord, I made it. My struggles continued through by school years with learning disabilities and the label of “you can’t learn as fast or as good your classmates”. Of course I had some friends cheer me on and be there for me, but I had my critics, too. Individuals who would make fun of my weight or think that I was stupid or that I wasn’t good enough to be their friend. Not only my classmates were my critics, some of the teachers continued to think I was not going to make through either. But I proved to them that I was good enough by making it through Elementary, Middle, and fighting through High School.

My senior year could be considered my best and almost worse year in school. First of all, my grades were the best they had been allowing me to hit the honor roll for first time ever while getting perfect attendance. I was flying high with possibly at getting a Core 40 Diploma ( a step higher than a normal one). All changed, though, when I was once again struck with a seizure that almost cost me not only my school life but my personal life as well. As this was unfolding, one teacher was hoping that I would not pass the English part of a standardize test and refused to sign the waiver trying to prevent me from High School graduation. Once again, I proved my critics wrong by graduating High School! A major victory in my life.

It took me a year and half out of high school to find my first full- time job. But at the same time, I was baptized because my heart was crying out. I took Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Things did not end here, my life actually started to get worse with my dad’s best friend committed suicide. I became so overwhelmed by depression that almost two weeks later, I attempted to commit suicide by taking knife to myself. My family and my friends came beside me and helped me kick depression’s butt.

Now let us Fast Forward about five years, just before my 26 birthday, a friend of mine ask me what I doing was on a Tuesday Night. Unknown to me, I was about to be introduced to the LIFE Leadership community. My eyes were opened to a group of people that really care about me and will help me Win Big in my life. Thanks to the books I have read, all of the CDs I have listened to (A Whole Lot of them!), and the encouragement from Blake and Apryl Harris, my life has turned around BIG TIME for the better. I now have a positive attitude and let my Sanguine-Phlegmatic Personality really shine in both my personal and professional life. Because of the LIFE Leadership community, my job at McDonalds for the last seven and half years (quitting twice and coming back), has changed dramatically. My hard work, like Chris Brady’s Today’s the Day Cd ( Seven and Half Years!), the double shifts, working on my days off, angry customers flipping me the Bird! (TODAY’S THE DAY!) is finally paying off. I was recently promoted to Manager in Training position. Likely to get my own store. I want to thank the Life Leadership community (especially Aron and Mary Radosa, Phil and Shannon Bontrager. and Blake and Apryl Harris) for helping me become a lot better person. I don’t where my life would be without this culture, so THANK YOU !

My journey so far had been hard but it’s has been so Worth IT ! and this only the beginning of my success journey. God Bless,Mike Eppenbaugh”

The Right Community + the Right Hunger + the Right Information = Overcomer! I changed by watching Mike change and in hearing his story. I pray you put yourself in an environment that improves you! Put yourself in the LIFE Leadership community!

This past weekend Mary and I spent our time down in Columbus, Ohio. We had the honor to be around literally thousands of people from all walks of life (race, creed, color, age, religion, etc.) with the mindset to become better. To say that it was incredible, would be an understatement! Between the resources available, the amazing speakers, and the fellowship of the group, it is an environment for all. The Life Leadership company is growing at a thunderous rate. I am not going to change your mind on what has been accomplished, nor what this company stands for, but facts don’t lie. Here is 2 compelling articles that you MUST read. I pray you take the time to showing up at a local seminar and find out that there are real people who have gone through real things that are helping real people get through their real events. The Life Leadership Company is real, and its better than you think as my mentor, Bill Lewis once told me.

As we come into the year of 2014, some people are resolute in improving their results from last year. People are anxious to look inside themselves and find faults. The #’s of individuals who go out and get health club memberships and buy books in January is staggering. But what is the results of this self-examination. Usually by February, the workout facilities should become bars (this would continue to attract the new club members, 🙂 ) and the books assume their dusty realm of “I’ll get to it”. Now, this is not new or even surprising information. The question that lingers is that of “I want change but how?” or likely, “How do I stay consistent?”

Napoleon Hill (“Think and Grow Rich) and Robert Kiyosaki (Cash Flow Quadrants), both well-respected sages in the truth arena, wrote (over 60 years apart) that the atmosphere is most important aspect of improvement. You become what you surround yourself with. Good in = Good out, Bad in = Bad out. They say it more eloquently, but you get the picture. I am not trying to say that those around you are bad, or evil, or not good for you. People just “don’t know what they don’t know” cause “if they did know, what they say they know, they would have different results, you know”.

There is an atmosphere of improvement. Whether it is improving your business or job results, improving your self-confidence, improving family and marriage skills, gaining strength in your spiritual walk, understanding the deep principles of freedom, or understanding the offense, defense, and playing field of finances, it all has to do with the environment you put yourselves in. I believe that is all encompassed in the Life Leadership company. I challenge you to prove me wrong. Get around the likes of Orrin Woodward, Chris Brady, Bill Lewis, and Holger Spiewak and not improve. Give yourself an adult time-frame (6 months to a year). I bet the improvement is noticed much quicker! And I bet you stay consistent for a lot longer with the information you tune into.

Here is an example from Ed, who is a business owner for 19 years and initially, a true skeptic of Life Leadership :

I totally lost track of time last night watching movies with the kids. Around eleven, I grabbed my phone thinking it must be close to ten and UGGGGH! At that point I saw your text and got to thinking. About expecting to win….. I’ve been around this organization long enough to know one can expect to win. But what is a win and what is expectation, is what makes it a bit of a conundrum in my head. The old adage you get what you expect is so true here. If I get involved and do nothing, then I will surely get all the expectations that go with that effort. But once I got busy reading associating and listening my expectations of a win started to clarify. Through consistent effort to right the ship that is my thinking my expectation of winning grows bigger. Like any endeavor without consistency it also can shape my expectation. I can expect slow long coming results with this business if I don’t go make it happen. Why still results? Because this works and someone in your organization will step up and lead. However, for me that’s not an option. Expecting things, especially a big win in life is never fulfilled on luck and a prayer as they say. It’s determination and guts that will bring home the win. Recently I started reading A Whole New Mind. So far it’s a great discussion about how we learn in this day and age. About left brain mechanics and right brain art. This “win” we talk of that is to be expected comes with not so much understanding the whole left vs. right brain argument, but rather by focusing on the practice of art with mechanics. Dealing with prospects it’s the art that will drive them to do the mechanics that no one initially wants to do. It’s a natural progression as with anything. To get from point a to b requires c, so go do c and the wins will stack up. But without the art side driving us, the mechanics will and do bog us down. For some the idea of a win isn’t expected and they’ll get exactly that. Until we build the art side, “feed the elephant” so to speak long enough to change that expectation it will never change. For me concentrating on expectation of a win is what keeps me looking for that next big leader that will benefit all our lives in our community from just being around them. I expect myself to do the work for a win, I expect myself to be willing to talk through just about anything a teammate wants to discuss even if it doesn’t advance the ball immediately, I expect to have people be negative and outright ignorant about what I do, I expect that over time I’ll grow enough artistically that the mechanics will flow naturally, I expect that the next seminar is going to be the best because it’s there my newest teammate “sees” it. I expect to struggle to keep tools flowing but constantly get better, I expect that this Tuesday is the one where a team member breaks out, and most importantly I expect to repay the efforts of my upline by paying it forward to the next individual willing to stand and say my time is now. For all these expectations require effort and with the LIFE leadership community I can expect a win because it’s built on honesty integrity and character. Oh and from my most recent lesson learned, you can expect to pay attention to time, it’s gonna pass whether or not you are noticing. Sorry again about missing the call last night. I know you would never bring it up negatively, but I hate the feeling of letting others down even if it’s something as simple as being involved with a call. To this day when I’m late for work, I get all balled up inside like I’m going to get fired for being late. I could only be so lucky eh? lol

Try it and you will like it. “Hey! He likes it! Mikie likes it He really likes it!” (for my 80’s crowd)